Training device for aiding infants to walk



J. L. BLANK 3,529,819

T AINING DEVICE FOR AIDING INFANTS TO WALK Sept. 22, 1970 Filed May 6,1968 mvsu-roa: JOHN LEWIS BLANK BY ATTYS United States Patent 3,529,819TRAINING DEVICE FOR AIDING INFANTS TO WALK John L. Blank, 402 S. StateRoad, Upper Darby, Pa. 19082 Filed May 6, 1968, Ser. No. 726,924 Int.Cl. A61h 3/00 U.S. Cl. 272-70 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Atraining device for use by adults in aiding infants to walk consistingof an elongated body member having an axle supporting wheels at one endso that the device may be actuated along a walking surface, a hand gripmember for gripping by the adult to support the device and a hand railwithin easy reach of an average sized infant. The body member isconnected to the axle in such a manner to allow limited pivotal movementso that it may be selectively positioned at an angle offset from a planeperpendicular to the walking surface.

The present invention relates to a device for use in training infants towalk.

The age at which infants are able to walk by themselves variesconsiderably and would fall generally in an age range between eightmonths and two years. In most instances the infant has the necessarybody development to walk at a relatively early age and the main drawbackor deterrent is in the infant achieving the proper sense of balance.

In order to develop the balance required for an infant to walk,oftentimes the parent walks behind the child supporting the hands of thechild with the arms extended above its head. This, of course, isextremely tedious and tiresome to the parent who must stoop over thechild and, furthermore, it has been found that in most cases the parentis supporting too much of the weight of the child with the result thatthe infant is simply being propelled along by the parent and is notdeveloping balance. Additionally, because of the fact that it istiresome, oftentimes the parent can only endure it for a relativelyshort period of time and, consequently, these short periods are notsufficient to satisfy the infant or be of a sufficient duration to makesubstantial progress.

Various walking devices or aids are presently in use. One such device iswhat might be commonly termed a walker and comprises a frame structurewith four depending legs on which are mounted swivel rollers and a seatmade of a flexible material suspended from the frame having two legopenings through which the childs legs protrude to engage the walkingsurface. In these devices the infant sits in the seat portion and simplypushes the device in much the same fashion as in a toy automobile or thelike. As a practical matter with this type. of device, a child willlearn to walk over a comparatively long period of time, the shortcomingbeing that again the child cannot develop the proper sense of balancefor this type of walking aid. Furthermore, in these walkers there is nocontrol over direction of movement and, consequently, in some cases theinfant may bump into an end table or the like, causing an item such as alamp on the table to fall. This obviously presents a risk of injury tothe infant. Moreover, the walkers are extremely uncomfortable when inuse and in some instances cause chafing or irritation to the sensitiveskin of the infant.

There are still other walking devices which comprise a frame structureincluding a handle or the like and having at least a three point supporton the walking surface. The shortcoming of these devicesis that theinfant 3,529,819 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 tends to lean over the deviceand the device does not require the infant to assume the correct postureor weight distribution and balance for learning to walk.

With the foregoing in mind, an object of the present invention is toprovide a device for training infants to walk at a relatively early ageand is constructed so that the child almost immediately develops a goodsense of balance. Furthermore, the device referred to as a toddlers aidis characterised by novel features of construction and arrangement toachieve the above end and is simple to use by the parent so that it doesnot become a boring or tiresome task. To this end the walking device ofthe present invention comprises basically an elongated body member whichin the form illustrated is an elongated tubular rod which mounts at oneend an axle supporting wheels and has at a convenient height to thechild a crossbar attached thereto which the infant can grip and supporthimself while he is walking. A handle member is provided at the oppositeend of the tubular body above the crossbar which may be selectivelyadjusted for height to accommodate the parent so that the parent doesnot have to stoop over when the device is in use. In the presentinstance the tubular body member is pivotally mounted to the axle sothat it may be offset to one side or the other of a plane transverse tothe axis of the axle or the Walking surface and the crossbar isselectively adjustable so that in the offset position of the tubularbody the crossbar may be disposed at a position parallel to the walkingsurface. By this arrangement the path of the infant is offset from thepath of the parent to eliminate the possibility of the parent bumpinginto the child. Thus, the present invention provides a device for use intraining infants to walk with a controlled environment due to adultparticipation whereby the risk of injury to the child is eliminated.

These and other objects of the present invention and various featuresand details of the construction and operation thereof are hereinaftermore fully set forth with references to the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a Walking device in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the tubular body member offset to oneside;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken on lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views taken on lines 5-5 of FIG. 4and 6-6 of FIG. 1 respectively.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof,there is illustrated a device for training infants to walk in accordancewith the present invention which is generally designated by the numeral10.

The device comprises a generally elongated body member 12, in thepresent instance, a tubular rod which may be made of metal or plastichaving a handle 14 projecting from one end thereof and mounting apivotally mounted axle 16 at its opposite end. As illustrated in FIG. 4the axle 16 mounts a pair of wheels 30- at opposite axial ends thereofwhich are rotatably supported on the outer terminal ends of the axle bymeans of conventional frictiongrip washers 32, 32 and speed nuts 34, 34respectively. The handle 14 as best illustrated includes a stem portion18 which telescopically engages in the upper end of the tubular body 12and a hand grip portion 20 angularly offset relative to the stem 18. Thehandle is adjustable relative to the tubular body 12 and to this end thebody is provided with a series of openings 22 which are axially spacedtherein. The stem 18 includes a spring biased button 24 engageable in aselected opening in the member 12 to lock the handle in a predetermineddesired set position.

In the present instance the tubular body 12 is adapted for selectedpivotal positioning relative to the axle and to a plane XX perpendicularto the walking surface. To this end the tubular body is provided at itslower end with axially aligned enlarged elongated openings 40, the majoraxis of which are greater than the diameter of the axle 16 and a plug 42of a resilient material such as rubber having an opening 43 thereinthrough which the axle extends is mounted in the lower end of thetubular body 12. The opening 43 for the axle is cylindrical and of asize to snugly fit the axle so that the tubular body normally standserect in the plane XX as shown by the broken line position of FIG. 4.The plug 42 is retained in position by a pair of cap members 44 securedin abutting relation against opposite axial ends of the plug bydeforming or peening of the tubular body as at 46 toform retainingdetents. The tubular body 12 is centered relative to the axle by meansof a pair of rubber grommets 50'. By this arrangement the tubular bodymay be disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the transverseplane XX on either side thereof as desired by the parent trainer asexplained in more detail hereinafter.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the Walking device has a hand rail 54which the infant grips on either side of the tubular body 12. Theposition of the hand rail 54 is selectively adjustable so that it may bedisposed at a position horizontal to the walking surface when thetubular body 12 is angularly offset relative to the plane XX. To thisend, in the present instance the hand rail 54 is mounted on a ball-likemember 59 having a serrated face 60 and a stub shaft 6 2 projecting fromthe center of the face 60 which has a threaded outer end to mount a wingnut 64 so that the serrated face 60 of the ball member 61 may betightened against an adjusting clamp 66 having an arcuate contoured faceconforming to the tubular body member and a serrated face 70 whichmeshes with the serrated face of the member 59 to secure the hand rail54 in a predetermined desired angular position relative to the tubularbody 12. It will be noted at 68 that a rectangular extension of themember 66 is received in a complementary slot formed in the tubular body12 to further insure any relative displacement therebetween.

Considering now the operation of the walking device and assuming thatthe parent-trainer is right handed, then the parts as illustrated in thedrawings are in the correct position, that is, the tubular body 12 isoffset to one side of the plane XX so that the parent is walking in aline offset from the walking line of the infant and, therefore, does notstumble into the infant or inadvertently throw him off stride. Also, asindicated before, the height of the handle is adjusted by simplydepressing the button 24 and selecting the desired height andre-engaging it in one of the openings 22. Now the infant simply graspsthe hand rail 54 on either side of the tubular body and himself pushesthe device forwardly, the parent simply exerting a light holding grip tokeep the device in the position shown in FIG. 1. It has been found thatby this training technique and use of this device, the infant quicklydevelops the desired and necessary balance for proper walking at arelatively early age. Furthermore, there is very little strain on theadult and, consequently, the parent does not become tired quickly andthus the device can be used for an extended period of time affording theinfant the necessary time to practice. Moreover, the device of 5 In thecase of a left handed parent, the pivotal connection of the tubularshaft 12 to the axle 16 and the resilient plug 42 permits the tubularbody 12 to be very easily pivoted on the opposite side of the plane XX.In this event the bar 54 is angularly adjusted by threading the wing nut64 outwardly, rotating the ball adjustment member 59 and thenretightening the nut so that the serrated faces mesh and lock the bar ina new position parallel to the walking surface.

While the particular embodiment of the present invention has beenillustrated and described herein, it is not intended to limit theinvention, and changes and modifications may be made therein within thescope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in training infants to walk comprising an elongatedbody member, an axle mounted at one end of the body member and a handleprojecting from the opposite end of said body member, wheels rotatablymounted at opposite ends of the axle to support the device for movementalong a walking surface, a hand grip member mounted on the body memberat a point spaced upwardly from the lower end thereof and within easyreach of an average sized infant, mounting means for said hand gripmember whereby said hand grip member may be pivoted to a selectedposition and securely fastened in said position, said body member beingconnected to the axle for limited pivotal movement relative thereto sothat it may be selectively positioned at an angle offset from a planeperpendicular to the walking surface.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting means includes aball-like member supporting said hand grip member, said ball-like memberhaving a serrated face and a stub shaft threaded at its outer endengageable through an opening in said body member and an adjusting clampformed to engage the body member in a manner preventing relativemovement and having a serrated face which meshes with the serrated faceof said ball-like member to secure the hand grip member in apredetermined desired position relative to the body member.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means connecting the bodymember for a limited pivotal movement relative to the axle includes aplug of resilient material mounted in the lower end of the body memberhaving an opening therethrough of a size to snugly fit the axle, saidbody member having a pair of axially aligned enlarged openings throughwhich the axle projects.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 including a pair of grommets mountedon said axle for centering the body member relative to the axle.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said handle is selectivelyadjustable relative to said body member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/ 1920 Bowden 272-70 10/1949Jackson 28047.24

FOREIGN PATENTS 942,855 11/1963 Great Britain.

